Spirit of the Earth
by Agest
Summary: Lighting the Mars Lighthouse is no easy task, however Issac and company are determined to see things through to the end. The group of adapts are mere steps from the completion of their quest when the Wise One interferes. How will the heroes deal with his final test? Can they prevail? Oneshot. Centered around mudshipping. Issac x Mia.


While working on "The Water and the Earth" (one of my other mudshipping fanfics) I was inspired by one of the possible endings I came up with and decided to write a oneshot for it instead of incorporating it into my larger story. I suppose this can be viewed as an alternate ending for "The Water and the Earth" for those that have read it, but it works just as well as a stand alone piece. I'm quite happy about how this one turned out so I hope you enjoy it.

How to read dialogue in my stories:

- "Quote" marks means someone is speaking

- _Italics_ indicate thoughts

- Djinn speak with quotes and Italics

Legal Stuff:

- I don't own Golden Sun or the affiliate characters

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**Spirit of the Earth**

They didn't look like heroes atop the Mars Lighthouse. Issac took in the scene around him as the giant dragon fighting them leapt to the stars once again. There was Jenna, scorched and singed, tending to a bleeding Garet while a heavily injured Mia was doing her best to keep Ivan and Piers from fading into unconsciousness. Felix was kneeling across the aerie, barely supporting himself with his sword while pumping healing psynergy into Sheba's body.

He knew they could not withstand this next attack again. Pure white beams of light came into view as Issac stared up at the sky above. Coming to a decision, he stepped forward away from his friends and called on his Djinn. _"Protect them," _was Issac's command. A rush of power filled him as he called upon his psynergy one last time. He felt his Djinn leave his being and create a wall of pure Venus energy between himself and his friends. Issac watched as the white beams got ever closer and began to bend and twist in bizarre shapes. With the last of his strength, Issac imbued his psynergy into his blade and turned towards his friends with a sad smile, knowing it would be the last time he ever saw them.

Feeling the rush of power, the adepts that could still stand turned in Issac's direction and realized what he was about to do.

"NO!" Mia yelled and she mad a mad dash to try and reach Issac before it was too late, but was blocked by the barrier Issac's loyal Venus Djinn has set up. Summoning the psynergy she had left, Mia attempted to break the barrier, but failed and shouted out with desperation, "Issac!"

Issac gave her one last sad smile and what he thought would be his final words: "I'm sorry."

Then the white light engulfed him. The pain was like nothing he had ever felt before. Issac felt as if his body was ripping apart at the molecular level and was forced to his knee as the blast continued relentlessly and without mercy.

Mia stood mesmerized and watched as Issac was engulfed by the light. She could do nothing to help him, nothing to save him. The boy she loved was forced to his knee by the sheer power of the assault. Horror and helplessness was all Mia knew as Issac let out an agonizing scream that broke her heart to hear.

Issac could feel the world around him fading away as he fought off the pain, saving his psynergy for the right moment. The darkness was closing around him, but Issac knew what he had to do. With all his willpower, he invoked his psynergy.

There was a blinding flash of light that stunned Mia for a few seconds. When her vision cleared, she stared in utter disbelief.

_Issac is glowing…_There was no other way to describe it. Issac's entire body was bathed in a brilliant golden light as he raised his head to stare into the attack that brought him down.

Suddenly he moved. Sword in hand, Issac leapt high into the air, straight through the white light centered on him and slashed at the dragon behind the light, rending deep through the dragon's body.

Time itself seemed to stop for the moment as a loud shattering could be heard when the sword entered the dragon's chest.

Time resumed and the dragon's body dropped to the floor with a resounding thud. Issac's sword was completely gone and the white light winked out of existence, signaling the end of the dragon's life. The gold glow around Issac's body faded out and the barrier his djinn made shattered.

Mia couldn't move even if she wanted to. She could only stare in shock as Issac's body slowly fell to the floor and particles of pure Venus psynergy radiated off of him. Issac's body lightly touched the floor and broke Mia out of her trance. She cried out his name and ran towards him.

_Don't be too late, _she pleaded. Mia reached Issac's side and collapsed to her knees, drawing in all the healing psynergy she had and directing it into his body. Tears flowed freely from her face as she laid Issac's head in her lap and watched the Venus particles continue to eerily float away from his body and into the sky.

_Is this what it feels like to die?_ The semi-concious Issac wondered. The pain was leaving him, though he could still feel himself floating away. _It's not that bad actually…_With an effort of will, Issac opened his eyes slightly. _Ah…the sky is so blue…._Issac remembered as he stared upwards. He felt a drop of water hit him gently and became confused. _Is it raining?_ Slowly Mia's face come into focus and Issac was struck by just how beautiful she was. _It wasn't the sky…It was her hair…her eyes. _Issac smiled. _But she's crying…_

"Mia…" he whispered softly.

"Issac?" Mia dared to whisper as she opened her eyes and allowed a small measure of hope to fill her. _I can do this…I can keep him alive._

_She's healing me…_Issac realized. With immense effort, Issac moved his hand to find hers and held it gently as he spoke again. "Let me go Mia."

Mia refused to listen. "No. I can still save you Issac," she said, ignoring the Venus energies escaping from his body.

"It's too late for me Mia," Issac told her, squeezing her hand gently to comfort her.

Mia shook her head as the tears fell from her eyes. "Don't say that! You can't leave me…you can't…" she sobbed hysterically.

It pained Issac to see her in that state so he lifted his free hand and gently set it against her cheek while pure Venus psynergy continued to escape from it. "Thank you Mia. For everything," he told her. "I love you."

At those simple words, Mia broke down completely and embraced Issac's body as particles of Venus psynergy surrounded her. She felt Issac's hand leave hers and noticed it was completely gone. It had dissipated into the air around her and was floating away into the heavens as small pinpricks of light.

It was then she recognized the truth. _Issac is going to die…But it is not too late._

A sob wracked her body, but she leaned in swiftly and pressed her lips to his, letting the boy in her arms feel all the unsaid emotions she had harbored for so long. How long she kissed him, she could not say. It was a moment that would live forever as she desperately clung to him, capturing the feeling of her lips touching his for all eternity.

When she pulled back, she saw Issac looking directly into her eyes with a dazzling smile on his face. Mia continued to hold Issac as his body was slowly converted into dancing psynergetic light. The last thing she saw was his beautiful smile and deep blue eyes filled with happiness starring into her own.

"You will always be my angel," Issac told her simply.

There was one last burst of light and then he was gone. The psynergy floated away, up into the sky and Mia was left staring at her arms that held the boy she loved just moments before. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. Mia sat there with tears streaming down her face. She could almost see Issac before her. She could almost hear his laugh in her ears.

Behind her, the other adepts were standing shocked at what had just happened, though none had dared to interfere with Issac and Mia's last moments together in this world. Mia was just sitting there with empty arms and finally Garet had enough. He told half a step towards her.

A firm hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. "No. Let her grieve," Jenna said simply.

_Why did you have to do it Issac?_ Mia asked her empty hands silently. _Why did you have to be the "hero?" Why did you have to go and get yourself killed? _She continued sobbing quietly into the hands she finally brought up to her face.

She could almost feel his presence lingering as the last of the psynergy particles dissipated. She didn't want to open her eyes, she wanted it to all just be some bad nightmare that she could eventually wake up from, but the pain in her heart was all too real.

A gasp from one of the other adepts was enough to break Mia from her trancelike state.

"Is that-" Jenna said, pointing in front of where Mia was kneeling.

Mia opened her eyes slowly and wiped away the tears as the blurry shape in front of her began to take focus. When she could finally see, Mia noticed there was a little Venus Djinni in front of her looking up at her with its large blue eyes. Startled by its sudden appearance, Mia sat there and stared at it. _One of…Issacs?_ She wondered, watching its tail twitch ever so slightly.

The Venus Djinni stared at her with what she could only describe as a curious expression as if to ask why she was so sad. _Poor little guy, he must be lost and confused, _she thought. Mia wiped away some of her tears and held out her hands to the Djinni. "Come here little guy…What's your name?" she asked it.

The Dijinni hesitated for a moment before cheerfully jumping into her outstretched hands and replying, _"Sand."_

"That's a nice name," she said with a weak smile at the Venus spirit that was looking around at its surroundings as if for the first time. Mia just sat there and observed it for a minute before Fizz materialized and spoke. "_Miss Mia, this is highly unusual. A Venus Djinni like Sand should gravitate towards a Venus adept like Felix…I wonder…."_

Mia looked at Fizz while Felix approached her position and kneeled down across from her. Much to their surprise, Sand was startled by the arrival of the Venus adept and hopped up to Mia's shoulder before hiding itself in her long azure hair. It poked its head out to inspect Felix before ducking back inside its newfound hiding spot.

The reaction caused a hint of a smile on Felix's face as he looked at Mia. "It seems to have taken a liking to you Mia."

Mia gave a weak smile and addressed the djinni in her hair, "Come on out Sand. Felix is a friend. He won't hurt you." She held up her hand to where the shy Venus djinni had disappeared and was rewarded for her effort when Sand peeked outside again before hopping into it.

Felix stood up but had one last thing to say. "Take care of him Mia. Something tells me Sand has chosen you as it's adept."

When Felix walked away, Fizz spoke to Mia again. _"Miss Mia, I think…..I think I might know where Sand came from."_

"Oh?" was Mia's response.

Fizz hesitated for a minute before continuing. _"Telling you this might just cause you more pain…but I think you have a right to know."_

Fizz twitched before continuing. "_Us Djinn…we used to be adepts once. All of us. We can't remember much from our past lives except the very strongest of emotions and beliefs…but even then, it's just in a broad sense. None of us can remember anything specific about our lives before."_ Fizz looked at Mia again before continuing. _"It is possible…sometimes when an adept dies…when an adept dies true to their element…occasionally their spirit lives on as a pure representation of that element. This is how all djinn were created."_

Mia started to see where the conversation was heading and tears began to well up in her eyes again as she looked back to the Venus djinni resting happily in her hands. _No….It couldn't be…._

Fizz saw the look on Mia's face but decided she had to hear the rest. _"The creation of a new Djinni is an exceedingly rare event, however I'm not entirely sure that having a Venus djinni show up here at this time and in this place was a coincidence. Sand's reaction to Felix compared to you makes me think that maybe…just maybe he recognized you in some way…"_

Fizz decided to stop there because Mia had broken into tears again. Mia couldn't describe the emotions she was feeling. It wasn't sadness or happiness, but a mixture of something in between. She felt sorrow that the Issac she knew and loved was gone, but joy that a part of him had come back to her in some form.

She regarded the cute little Venus Djinni in her hands with a genuine smile.

_I will protect you forever little one…_Mia vowed.

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Well there you have it. I'm not usually one to write tragedy, but I gave it a try and I think it turned out pretty well. I really liked the challenge of writing about Djinn as not much is known about how they exist and what their personalities are like. Anyway, please leave me a review to let me know if you liked this or not and provide me some feedback on how I could improve my writing. Hearing from people that read my stories helps motivate me to write more!


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